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Friday, June 5, 2009

Hello :)

I'll start out by saying that I'm totally not a writer! I'm an RN by schooling (worked peds and NICU) which means I spent most of my time studying science and just squeaking by in English and writing! I will ask for your graces as far as my writing skills, thanks! I will try not to make my entries sound like a progress note in a chart...

My husband is finishing up his second year in med school. He was class president and worked with orthopedics this last year doing research and scrubbing into what surgeries he could. I stay at home with our two children a boy and a girl both under two years old. Yes, my life is very exciting to say the least! I was stoked to find this blog so I could connect with other women who are going through or have already gone through similar circumstances.

I'm wondering if you all have advice on how to research away rotations for 4th year. Has anyone gone as a family to these? Also looking for insight on what 3rd year is like having young children. We are already good at going to bed without having daddy home. I know he'll have early mornings and late nights. What else will be taking place this year?...

JLee

6 Comments:

Mrs. Dawkter said...: Welcome and nice to meet you! Third year is probably different at each school but for us it has been by far my favorite. (See blog link below). We have found the time committment to vary greatly with each rotation. For example when he was on psych some days he was home by noon!
We didn't do much research for away rotations per say it was more research for residency programs. After my husband decided on his ideal specialty we started looking at programs. Then after deciding on our top choice programs that is where he applied for away rotations. Now just because they are top three now doesn't mean they will be our top three at the end of the year. We figure our preferences will change after going through away rotations, interviews and visits. Two of the programs have very good reputations so that even if my husband doesn't want to do residency there he can still try and get letters of recommendation from there (or try to). The third program we applied to simply because we like the program and its location.

http://marriedtoamedicalstudent.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-i-love-third-year.html

Email me if you want more info on how to research residency programs (this comment is long enough!); June 5, 2009 at 9:43 AM
Kim said...: Hi JLee! I could have wrote this same post last year. My husband is finishing up 3rd year. I'm also an RN (working part-time nights in L&D) and our kids are now 3 and 1 1/2. Third year hasn't been bad. Some rotations were a nice break when he was able to be home early. Others like surgery were a taste of what life will be like during residency with the hubby gone a lot and exhausted when he actually got home. I agree with Marissa Nicole as far as to research residency programs and then apply to those for away rotations. Are you currently working as a nurse. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions at: kim one five eight zero at hotmail dot com.; June 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Alexandra said...: Welcome!!!

Third year was actually easier than any year of medschool for us. The hours were not terrible and Tom was just so excited to get out of the classroom and actually do something he enjoyed that the stress level was so much nicer. Grant and I kept busy doing our normal things and Tom had more time to spend with us when he was off.

Now, 4th year wasn't that much different except for we had 5 months of out of state rotations, so we could look at residency programs. Grant and I went with Tom on all 5 months and had a SUPER time! We went to Texas in June and then went to St. Petersburg, FL (Sept), Orlando (Oct), York, PA(Nov), Willingboro, NJ and Danville, PA (Dec). Sometimes it was difficult finding a place to stay, but most programs had some nice places for us at a discounted price, for free, or could recommend something nearby that was great. For 4 of the 5 months our Jack Russel Terrier was even on the road with us and we had a blast. I can't imagine having been away from Tom that long or not having those wonderful experiences, so if you can you should at least go on the road for a short time. Let me know if you need more details!; June 5, 2009 at 2:32 PM
JLee said...: Wow! Thanks for all the input. It makes me feel good to know that most everyone likes 3rd year.

Kim: No I'm not working right now. I don't have any family or friends close by who would be able to watch my kiddos...and childcare??? Forget it. I wouldn't be making any money with how much childcare costs here!

I'm pretty sure my husband is going to try for ortho, but before I go delving into looking at those programs I want him to be at least 75% sure. He wants to wait and see his boards score to make a decision.; June 5, 2009 at 5:03 PM
MorrowFamily said...: My husband is getting ready to be a PGY4 in Ortho, we have 2 year old twin boys and a 1 year old girl. Let me just say that the busy/hectic life of raising 3 kids 2 years and under with my husband's busy schedule makes medical school seem like a breeze even though at the time we thought it was rough.

Ortho is a highly competitive field to get into so my advice is for him to rotate at as many programs as he can. My husband and I lived apart about 6 months during his third year b/c of his out rotations, but it was something he had to do in order to be prepared for the Match, I had a job so we'd just try to coordinate to see each other on weekends 1-2x a month.

Good luck as you start looking at possible residencies!; June 5, 2009 at 8:02 PM
Melisa said...: Welcome!!!; June 9, 2009 at 8:14 PM

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Friday, June 5, 2009

Hello :)

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